I'm using a Dell XPS 13 (i7-6560U, 16GB RAM, NVMe SSD) with a 4k panel / touchscreen and it runs Serato perfectly. Couldn't want for anything.

Just be sure whatever laptop you get has a decent GPU. For the Intel integrated, they are the ones with a non-zero number in the 3rd digit. (i.e. my i7-6560U vs. a 6500) Those tend to have the beefier Iris Pro graphics which will keep your waveforms silky.

Beyond that, runs great on both Windows and Mac. The touchscreen is surprisingly useful as well. I tend to use it anytime my DVS decks flip to INT mode (MIDI glitch, most likely). No mouse/trackpad needed - just touch the REL and away I go. =)

Runs like s world war 1 tank on glue with a 4th generation Intel i7 processor...how about that?

So you saying my processor is getting old?

Wave forms aren't butter on any machine (Mac or PC) right now. Do not base your choice on that.

Christ beats I. is having his own pity part these days and can't seem to troubleshoot his way through much so he just posts 10000 times in multiple threads about how he is having problems.

If you're doing audio only, any current gen i5/i7 will get the job done fine. Personally I'd get an XPS or Spectre before a Razer, but that's personal preference. If you're doing videos I'd stick to Mac and Mix Emergency.

I'm running Serato DJ Pro on a MacBook Air & I have all of my music on a Toshiba (blue) 2TB external hard drive. No issues here. Popnwave is right, the wave forms aren't as crisp as I would like but, I can't complain. I would love to get a more powerful MacBook with a large SSD but, it's not a necessity at this point. Cheers!

Awesome! I knock a few folks rockin' it with Airs!

Lol I KNOW a few folks rocking' it with Airs. Love these forums and not being able to edit :D

Avoid anything with a 4k screen and Serato DJ Pro in hi Res mode. Performance seriously suffers, it works the video card really hard trying to draw the screen. I don't know what they are doing when drawing it but it's absolutely clobbering the GPU. If you don't have a dedicated GPU it will not run properly in high Res mode. Don't purchase anything above normal standard hd if you want Serato DJ Pro to run nicely, I also don't really recommend having a touch screen either especially if you are a mobile DJ, the number of times I've had guests leaning over my DJ booth and touching the laptop screen is unreal. If it were touch screen they would have certainly managed to hit something to cause the music to stop or mess up.

^ thank you for this info

so if the hi-res screen display impedes performance WHY DOES THIS OPTION EVEN EXIST? (Better is display is always a nice thing to have, but who cares about it if it messes with the performance of what serato is made for?...)

Agree. They really need to tweak hi-res display more. Just because your computer supports hi-res display doesn’t mean it will work smoothly in serato. I have a i7 Mbp w/dedicated graphics and could care less for hi-res imo it’s not that big of a difference..txt is just slightly more clear then again in just used to a normal display...to be honest If we did a poll I guarantee maybe 10% or less actually use it. Hi-res display is a useless feature that should of never been added. Like others have mentioned it really works the cpu hard esp the fans so therefore it is not a convenient feature for working djs. I say trash it👎🏼

The serato development team just suck, how long is sdj out and waveforms are still not smooth

I have been using hi-res mode on various laptops and even tested it on older non-retina machines, just to see what will happen, and I found several things:

1.) Hi-Res mode does add to CPU stress but all laptops I’ve tested (see below) as old as 2012, perform fine (musically) with it, especially with older OS versions on the Mac. No audio drop-outs or glitches. (These are dedicated Serato-only machines with no other software on them and clean installs.)

2.) Smoother waveforms only are present on certain machines, with little rhyme or reason it seems as to which ones are better or worse.

3.) You may notice that cue points shift slightly between high res and low res mode. So if you set them in one, they will be shifted in another and vice versa. For this reason, even though I use a non-retina machine to perform currently, I set all my grids and cues on my retina work laptop so as to be “future proofed”...I will move to a hi-res laptop for performance sooner or later.

As far as smooth or non-smooth waveforms, here are the computers I’ve tried with latest SDJ Pro:

2011 15” i5 MacBook Pro - jerky
2012 13” i5 MacBook Pro - jerky
2013 13” i5 Retina MacBook Pro - jerky
2015 15” i7 2.2ghz Retina MacBook Pro - smooth
2015 13” i5 Retina MacBook Pro - jerky
2017 13” i5 Retina (non-touchbar) MacBook Pro - jerky
2018 27” i7 Retina iMac (w/highest graphics card option) - jerky (very surprising)
2018 15” i7 Retina MacBook Pro - smooth
2019 13” i5 (2 usb-c port model) Retina MacBook Pro - smooth
2019 13” i5 (4 usb-c port model) Retina MacBook Pro - smooth

Note that “smooth” is still not as smooth as SSL or SDJ 1.7.8. They changed the graphics engine in SDJ 1.8 and that’s when the jerky waveforms began.

So, I’d love for Serato to look at the following:
- continue to work on smoothness of waveforms, as well as their clarity (looked clearer in SSL/SDJ 1.7.8)
- fix remaining UI elements that didn’t get hi-res treatment
- resolve issues of high-res/low-res cue point shifting
- commit to not shifting things around again...you have to redo all of your cues and grids when you move from SSL/SDJ to SDJ Pro because they slipped noticeably. This is taking me forever.

As far as my recommendation for a DJ laptop to select right now, I would pick:

- Best: Mid 2015 15” Retina MacBook Pro 2.2ghz
- Good: 2018 15” Retina MacBook Pro
- OK: Either of the 2019 13” models

2015 because of old style ports receives my top choice.

It is rumored that Apple will be updating their 13s with the old style keyboard as found in their new, latest 16” in the first half of 2020. I’m personally waiting for that as the 15s are too big for DJing imo and visually draw too much attention to your laptop and I don’t care for the new 13s much. My non-retina 2012 with 8GB RAM / SSD running Mavericks still works perfectly, minus the jerky waveforms.

Hope this helps.

Hi Res mode does not effect the CPU on my Dell Precision i7 laptop.
The graphics are all handled by the Nvidia Quadro, so CPU use stays around 15% during 2 deck use.

So on macs that have dedicated video GPUs, it still gets the main CPU to do the work ?. That doesnt seem right.

2018 macbook pro 15"

Preach even a new 2019 Mac w/64 gig ram won’t fix that shit it’s just a sluggish GUI.

You gotta "see" with your ears bro.

Open your third eye

It not about mixing with your eyes its the fact when you glance at your pc screen that should chew serato up without a sweat with the specs of the machine and it cannot show a smooth waveform, if you don't see that as a problem then don't even bother commenting

Damn man, you're one one. Take a breather, that's a run on sentence from hell.